Henr Henry Reyna In Zoot Suit By Luis Valdez

Zoot Suit is a play, written by Luis Valdez, based on the Sleepy Lagoon murders and the Zoot Suit riots of the nineteen forties. In this play, Valdez embodies Chicano culture and social injustice. Upon reading the play, it is very apparent that the main source of injustice is institutional racism and it is shown in the court scenes of this play. It starts with the “Opening of the Trial” (Act I,Scene 9) and in this it proves that the court itself has already set up Henry and the gang for failure. They failed to show any human decency in which they did not allow the boys to wear clean clothes or even fix their hair.

In the play Zoot Suit, the author Luis Valdez deals with the central theme of injustice and uncanny law enforcement through the life of Mexican-American gangster Henry Renya. Essentially, the Hispanic 38th street men, which is led by Henry, are accused of a crime they did not commit. One can determine that they were wrongfully sentenced because of their race and their choice of clothing. Throughout the play, Luis Valdez depicts how injustice has become a part of the life for Mexican-Americans through the portrayals of the Sleepy Lagoon Murder, their attire, misconduct during the trial, and racism.

In his speech, Henry uses a strong ethical appeal by being very respectful in order to show that he understands and respects his opponents argument but he also has some things to say that oppose him. In the very beginning of his speech he honors the man before him by saying “No man thinks more highly than I do of the patriotism, as well as the abilities, of the very worthy gentlemen who have just addressed the house.” to gain the respect of his audience and captivate them into the rest of his speech. He also throughout the entirety of his speech said the word “sir” to respectively address the opponent.

Henry was a normal boy and did all of the normal things young boys do: making noise, being busy and active, nosing around in the refrigerator, and asking questions - all part and parcel of being a normal child. But he was brought up to believe he wasn't a "model boy." His parents were constantly interrupted by him - his mother while she was reading and grading papers, and his father so much so that he spent most of his time in his office on campus, joining them only at mealtimes. His father wished to remain "blissfully unaware."

The main characters are reversals of the negative ways Chicanos had been positioned within the dominant regimes of representation. Baugh (1996: 29) explains Valdez’s own opinion that – ‘the experience of Chicano gangs could easily be explained away by socioeconomic and political interpretations but that kind of explanation robs the gang of its

              The Chicano way was the way it was during the 1940s in the city of Los Angeles. The title of my book is “Zoot Suit and Other Plays” written by Luis Valdez. This story takes place on the year 1942 in the city of Los Angeles, California. The way the story is that the main character of the story by the name of Henry Reyna, the ringleader of the 38th street gang, is unjustly charged for the Sleepy Lagoon murder of a man  and is sentenced to life in prison. He wasn’t the only one charged a few of his gang members were charged as well. Their lawyer George Shearer and a news reporter Alice Bloomfield worked for several months to get them out and after many protests and petitions the 38th street gang was released for lack of evidence to hold then guilty. The main character Henry Reyna is very prideful, brings a big influence to his people, and very optimistic. .

Racism runs rampant around the world and many people judge others by their looks and ethnicity. This can be seen many times in the play, “Zoot Suit” by Luis Valdez. Zoot Suit is a play about Henry Reyna and his street gang being accused and put on a mass trial for a murder that they didn't commit and being found guilty for it. In the play, Henry Reyna and his gang are discriminated by U.S. Navy sailors and the judge from their trial even though they were supposed to uphold justice and order. In the real world this can be seen with President Trump and his discrimination towards other races such as mexicans and middle easterners. Discrimination occurs in both the real world and in the play from the people who are suppose to uphold justice.

The main idea of this passage is that there are obstacles in life to show how dedicated you are to something and how much you want something. The passage in which this is said, Pausch has a minor setback. When he was a child, he went to Disneyland. After arriving, he was completely amazed with the place, as many children are. He had wanted to work at Walt Disney Imagineering, so once he got his PhD in computer science at Carnegie Mellon, he sent off letters of application. To his surprise they did not have any positions for him. He was of course disappointed by this, but it gave him the opportunity to show how bad he actually did want this. Years later, he tries to get in on a top secret Disney Imagineering project. After much persistence, he got ahold of the Imagineer who was running the entire team. This was a huge success for Pausch. After meeting in person over lunch, Pausch was invited to spend more time with the team of Imagineers. After he thought he had overcome all brickwalls, another one appeared. He needed permission from his boss which turned out to be harder than it appeared. He took his situation to the dean of sponsored research. He gave Pausch and go ahead, and Pausch's dream was now a reality. He had overcome many obstacles but he never gave up and showed just how much he wanted this, and in the end he was rewarded!

These references show that just because a person may not seem to fit in a certain environment, or are just to poor to do anything about it, doesn't mean they have to settle with this concept. Triumphing over obstacles such as race and economic position are some of the ideas the author is able to throw out and try to inspire people. Don't settle with something mediocre, when a person is capable of so much more. This is a theme that seems to sustain through out the entire book.

One example is during the dance, when Henry and Rafas, a member of the Downey Gang, get into a fight, Henry eventually gains the upper hand and Rafas is at his mercy, however, instead of harming him, Henry just tells him to leave. Then, Bertha, Henry’s old girlfriend says “The old Hank would have slit Rafas’ belly like a fat pig.” (Valdez 47). This shows that Henry used to be much more ruthless than he was in the play. This is because he realizes that any violence that he does, no matter how small, will come up again, and could stop him from joining the military or from getting a decent job after the war. Because he realized this, he began to think about what effect his actions may have on his future. Another example is when Henry decided to back out of the appeal (Valdez 70). Instead of fighting the racist and corrupt justice system that put him in jail, Henry thought that, by accepting the punishment, he would be viewed as more American, and perhaps he would get out of jail early for good behavior. When Henry decided that he was going to join the navy he was thinking about his future as well. In the play Henry says, “I was all set to come back a hero, see? Me la rayo. For the first time in my life I really thought Hank Reyna was going someplace.” (Valdez 30). Henry knew that the only way he could gain respect from the police and the white Americans was by

The short story “Flood” by Daniel Alarcon, focuses on a town that is “flooded” with gang conflicts and the gangs are the ones who run the townspeople fate, despite what they do to escape the conflicts. In the short story a child is the narrator and although, children are portrayed as innocent; throughout “Flood” the children represent the contrary of that idea and the reader is able to recognize the “young gangster” in them. The setting of the story is significant because it is how the characters identify themselves and who they are as individuals. Whether the characters recognize themselves as gang members or innocent civilians, part of their everyday lives if overruled by the gangs, due to their ongoing conflict and disagreements over

Among the upper classes, he proved over and over again that he was not a good king. He rarely, if ever, participated in Parliament, and often did not attend sittings of the king's council. When the council sat at Westminster, Henry usually managed to be somewhere else (Storey, 35). These actions give a picture of a king who, though solicited for his opinions, did not want to get involved in the

Henry V is a wise and loyal king, changing from a wild youth to a mature king. He is described to be an intelligent, thoughtful and an efficient statesman. He thinks carefully whether to invade France or not which represents his responsible character. King Henry gives a very strong speech which gave courage and confidence to his army that they could win the battle. This character describes him to be a king of great ability to fight and having good administrative skills. Throughout the play Henry’s nature is religious, merciful and compassionate.

I think that the point of his essay was to express his point that no matter what we have to strive for excellence and settle for nothing less than what we feel we deserve. He came back to his roots and grew from his past experiences much the same way that I have